This Basketball Recruiting Expert Didn’t Know If He Could Keep Up With NBA-Caliber Players

Everyone who works at NCSA Athletic Recruiting believes in the transformative power of sport. With more than 450 former college athletes and coaches on staff, we’ve lived it. Here, basketball recruiting expert Eric Vierneisel describes his experience playing men’s basketball at the University of California-Berkeley and on overseas in countries like Germany and New Zealand.

We’ve been sharing some of our team members’ stories — and will continue to do so. Here are some of the most recent:

This basketball recruiting expert quickly learned the challenges of playing at a top conference.

It was a great opportunity to play in college, Eric says. “I was able to couple academics with playing in the Pac-10, which was considered one of the top conferences in the country.”

As great as it was, Eric also received a wake-up call:”Winning a lot of awards and accolades [in high school], you maybe think you’re a better player than you are,” he says.

But playing against NBA-caliber guys every day, and players in the PAC-10, Eric quickly realized he needed to up his game.

No matter how good you are, this basketball recruiting expert says you need to put in the time.

“The way I was able to get playing time and have success was to put in more time: in the weight room, getting more shots,” Eric says.

And, yeah, that time put into the game adds up.

“I would characterize it as having two full-time jobs. There’s not a lot of time for anything else,” Eric says. “I say it’s two full-time jobs, but they give you every opportunity to succeed with that.”

Here’s Eric Vierneisel’s top advice for current high school basketball players.

No matter how much you’re getting recruited, don’t fall into a false sense of security.

“Even in my own experience, where college coaches were calling me and reaching out to me, I still did research on the school,” Eric says. “That’s the biggest thing I tell student-athletes in high school now: research the school, research the coach, research the program, and really think about whether they think it’ll be a good place for them, where they’ll have a good experience.”

Check out the rest of Eric’s story, and hear all of this basketball recruiting expert’s advice, in the video below:

Interested in talking to basketball recruiting experts like Eric about your recruiting process? We’re here to help. The best way to get started is with a recruiting profile.